The families of babies being treated on the neonatal unit at Royal Hampshire County Hospital will enjoy improved facilities thanks to the efforts of a group of super-fit fundraisers.
Members of Dawn Breakers Winchester, an early morning fitness class based at The Westgate School, raised an amazing £10,000 by completing an exhausting 12 hours of high intensity interval training.
Sessions normally last just 45 minutes, but the group did exercises including push ups, pull ups, jumps and tyre flips for nine times the normal class time to help the unit. The money will be used to make improvements to the facilities for families, including refurbishing the accommodation available.
Mandy O’Neill, lead instructor at Dawn Breakers Winchester, said: “We do a fundraising event each year and chose a charity close to our hearts by putting it to a vote.
“It was clear that the neonatal unit at RHCH meant a lot to a lot of people, with lots of personal stories about family members who had been treated there.
“We set ourselves a target of raising £6,000, so we smashed that, and are delighted to have raised so much money.”
Sharon Stone, clinical matron on the neonatal unit at Winchester hospital, said: “On behalf of everyone who works on the unit, and all of the families who will benefit from the improvements we are able to make with this amazing amount of money, I would like to say a huge thank you to Dawn Breakers Winchester.
“When babies need our specialist help, it can be extremely stressful for their parents and families. By making the facilities we have for families as comfortable as possible, hopefully they will be able to get more of the rest they need to help their babies.”
